The Moonlace Incident
by Rhia of the Druma Wood
Summary: All Nico and his friends wanted was some moonlace.
1. Chapter 1

**I have nothing much to say about this fic... Enjoy? :)**

**Disclaimer: Rhia owns none but my characters.**

* * *

I woke up to the Naiads singing today, and rolled out of bed with a smile on my face. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it still felt good to be up and to hear them crooning to the camp. It made me happy, and that was supposedly saying a lot considering the reputation of gloom, doom and death that had clung to me since word got out that I'm the son of Hades.

Yeah, well. It's a moment in the life and times of Nico di Angelo, and all that. Of course I was a hero—I got like, a camp bead and a battle souvenir and whatnot, but still. People tend to stare.

Then of course, it had to end. Not the Naiads singing—no, that went on for longer than I cared to hear. As I listened from the window of my cabin, watching the sun rise, all the sleep left me and all of a sudden I realized what they were singing and more importantly, _why _they were singing.

_Styx, _I realized, _Happy singles awareness day, everyone._

That's when the insistent knocking started.

"Di Angelo. Di Angelo, get up! It's a big day today, buddy!"

Oh, gods. Not this early.

Nevertheless, I put on something semi-decent and answered the door. The person on the other side barged in without waiting for me to invite him in, but I guess I didn't really care by now. After the first few weeks of that kind of behavior plus the constant embarrassment Adam Gallagher could put a guy through, it kind of stops stinging after a while, just like when one's standing in a bucket of ice and it hurts at first and then it's numb. (Um, yeah, don't ask)

"Jeez, why is your floor always so cold?" he hissed as I closed the door. He stood there, rubbing his arms and stamping his skater shoes all over the pristine black marble. "I can feel it through my shoes. It's like the Ice Incident all over again!"

I winced at the mention of the Ice Incident, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he smiled at me like a madman and spread his arms wide. "Happy Valentine's Day, Nico!"

His use of the V-word got my hair standing on end. "Adam…"

"No, I'm not going to listen to you today, di Angelo!" he beamed. Really? Just today? Because he never really listens any other day. "Today—yes, you, yes, today—are getting the girl of your dreams: Zar—"

By this time I'd tackled him and had my hand firmly across his motor of a mouth. "Ssshhh! Ssshhh! Shut up, Adam, shut up! All of freaking China can hear you!" I let him go and he sat up on my bed, grinning like an idiot.

"As I was saying," he continued, "Today, you are getting the girl of your dreams: Zara Parks!"

My gods. I thought Adam was crazy before, but now… Now, he just didn't make any sense.

See, Zara Parks is a goddess. Of course, I don't mean this literally. She's a daughter of Persephone. What I mean is just that she's probably the hottest thing at Camp, but 1) she doesn't know I exist (well, she does know, I mean, everyone does and it's kind of uncomfortable. I guess I should say that she doesn't really _care_ that I exist) 2) She's way, way, way, way to the power of _infinity_ out of my league, 3) No one really wants to hang out with the son of the Lord of the Dead, 4) Did I mention she's out of my league? And 5) Well… There's this rumor going around that she has the biggest, most epic crush on none other than my cousin, Percy Jackson. There would be a six, but I feel sad going past five, although if you'd really like to know, 6) is that she apparently doesn't see the family resemblance. (Um, neither do I, actually, but there's got to be _some _there)

"Nico?" Adam said. "Nico, am I speaking Chinese?"

I looked at him, but my look of utter mishap faded when I saw he was dead serious about that question. "Has it happened before?" I asked.

He nodded. His tawny eyes were cloudy as if he were looking into the past. "The Ares cabin figured our 'speaking-the-truth' thing would be less annoying in another language. Don't know how they did it, but we got them in the end though. Chinese is not a good language to declare prophesies in."

We sat there for a while, me nodding slowly. After a bit, Adam said, "Percy", naming the gay baby born in that awkward silence.

"Anyway," he ploughed on, suddenly all businesslike as he paced in front of me. "For Valentine's Day, you are going to give Zara some—wait for it—some moonlace!"

I stared. "Like, glow-in-the-dark-in-a-perfect-world-every-one-would-have-some-but-it-belongs-to-Percy moonlace?"

Although I thought it wasn't possible, Adam grinned even wider. "Like, Percy-Jackson's-Valentine's-gift-to-Annabeth-Chase-glows-in-the-dark-like-a-freaking-light-saber moonlace!"

I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming or not. Unfortunately, it hurt, _and_ left a little red mark. "H-h-how?" I stuttered.

"There's this rumor going around that he planted some in the forest," Adam explained. "Like, right in the middle where there are the most monsters or something."

Something tickled the back of my brain right there and then, like I needed to be remembering something right now. I squished it temporarily though to answer Adam. "Isn't that enough to tell us to stay away?"

"Naw, man, it's enough to tell every other half-blood to stay away, but it practically yells, 'Big three kids and company, this way'. You and Percy are tight, man, I'm sure he'd let you have some."

"I…" I considered the idea. My head was telling me that I'd be stupid to trust Adam with information like that, but this crazy little thing called love just shoved that all away. Percy's at his place for the school year, but he's never hard to reach. "Er… I guess I could IM him?"

"'Atta boy!" Adam yelled, punching the air. He smiled at me blankly for a while before saying, "You have to do it right now, though."

Blinking, I said, "What?"

"Oh, um, you know. The monsters never attack before lunch time and all that."

I groaned, but negotiated so that Adam agreed to let me call him after breakfast. This was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

"Dude, did you see Fiona? She was giving you the evil eye the whole breakfast."

I grunted my agreement. It's hard not to notice when some Demeter kid is staring at you like you're the spawn of the devil. I mean, yeah, technically I am the spawn of the devil, but the devil Hades, not the red one, Beelzebub. Just because my dad dragged her mom's godly daughter down to the Underworld doesn't make me the bad guy too. "Angle that a little more this way," I told Adam.

We were supposed to be washing out the canoes, but punishment for skipping a few chores would be totally worth it if we got the moonlace. Besides, don't canoes get washed in the lake, anyway? Now, we were trying to contact Percy, and as Adam angled the hose better to make a nicer rainbow, I deftly tossed the golden drachma into and watched it disappear.

"O, goddess, accept my offering," I prayed. "I want to talk to Percy Jackson. In Manhattan."

The scene materialized in the mist, and I recognized it as Percy's bedroom. The White Stripes were playing loud over the speakers that he told me Paul had gotten him for his birthday. He was sticking his tongue out while writing something, probably concentrating on getting the spelling right, a feeling I knew very well. Or, you know, maybe he just liked the taste of the wind.

He looked up when I said his name. "Hey, Nico!" he smiled. Yeah, smile all you want, Percy. You look like Logan Lerman _and_ you're going to marry Annabeth Chase someday _and _you have Zara Parks crushing on you. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Uh, Singles Awareness Day, Percy," I managed. "Anyway, there's this thing going—"

"Percy!" Mrs. Jackson's voice chimed in the background. "Paul's parents are here, come meet them!"

NO. No, no, no, no, no, NO.

Percy cursed violently and thunder rolled outside. "Coming, Mom, just a minute!" he called back. He turned to me then, green eyes and freckles and everything. "Hey Nics, bad timing, man. I'll call you back, okay?"

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no--

"Percy—"

Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't--

"I'm really sorry!" he squeezed in, just as the door behind him opened and he waved his hand through the image.

.

Adam dropped the hose, dejected. "Um, how about, shortest, most one-sided IM conversation ever?"

I stared at the little puddle the IMing had made on the ground. Stupid Percy. When I looked up again Adam was grinning at me. That was always bad news, but being the love drunk little fool I was…

"What is it?"

"We don't need Percy Jackson. Imagine what Zara will think when she hears you found the place _yourself._"

That was all I needed to get to my cabin and begin packing a backpack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not Rhia's!~**

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Adam?"

"Totally, man. Totally," he whispered back, although I had a feeling he was just trying to convince himself. "Like, what could possibly go wrong?"

I winced as he said it and out of habit knocked on the nearest tree. My eyes darted back and forth, searching for the monster just lurking in the moss and grass and rocks, waiting to jump out at us. "Must you say that?" I hissed to him after a length of silence. Sure, there was nothing there now, but we were jinxed for certain.

"Dude, I thought we agreed that cool people don't talk like that," he muttered exasperatedly and shot me a sideways glance. "And yeah, I did say it, because I'm seriously confident with our mission."

Nevertheless, he kept his bow at the ready. Trees loomed up around us as we continued forward, following the creek. There wasn't a sound but that of the creek's gurgling and the crunch of our shoes on the rocks, and well, I didn't know if Adam could hear it, but my heart was pounding. The forest had a reputation for being deceptively quiet during the day, and no one ever knew when they'd run into the anthill, or the dragon, or the dracenae, or the...

Adam turned in one quick motion, bowstring drawn back. "What was that?"

I listened carefully, holding my sword out in front of me. There was a sort of rustling sound going on, but that could just be a breeze a little ways over yonder. Slowly, Adam lowered his bow, and we kept going.

"We might never find it, you know," I said as we crunched past a what looked like the same juniper bush. "The woods are big."

"Really, now--"

All of a sudden there was a flurry of cracking twigs and rustling leaves. Adam and I whirled, expecting the worst as we faced the part of the forest in turmoil. Somebody cried out, and we'd barely exchanged glances when the forest deposited none other than Fiona Austen at our feet.

She stumbled out of the bushes, twigs in her hair and looking panicked. I opened my mouth, furious at her following us, but didn't have the chance. With pageant-contestant-like grace, she picked herself up off the ground and screamed,  
"RUN!"

Then there it was.

It exploded out of the trees like a rocket, coming to halt in front of me, Adam and Fiona. Over and over, I'd describe how it was like the shadows in the forest had decided to have a child, and how this monstrous thing had slid explosively out of it's mother's womb. On all fours, this feral hellhound leveled with Adam's head, and he was the tallest of us three. I didn't even want to know what would happen if it got up on its hind paws like Scooby Doo. With wild red eyes this thing stared us down, as if sizing up which one of us had the most meat and had the most calories and salt content.

"Nico," Adam whispered from the corner of his mouth. "Do you have any power over hellhounds?"

I gulped. "Not rabid ones."

The hellhound kept looking at us, panting and sending the foam in its mouth flying every which way. Even before I saw the foam, I knew this hellhound was _nothing_ like Mrs. O' Leary. I wouldn't even bother negotiating with it. Slowly, very, very slowly, I took a step back, glancing at Adam and Fiona and urging them to do the same. One more step backwards--

My foot slipped, making a small splash in the creek.

The hell hound went absolutely berserk and then--

Well, if I were Percy Jackson, this is what would've happened:

_My foot slipped, making a small splash in the creek. The creek! Yes!_

"_Percy!" Annabeth screamed worriedly. Yelling, she stabbed the hellhound's flank with her little dagger, turning it's attention on her. On its other flank, Grover stood, pelting the thing with chewed up cans from his back pack. Confused and as mad as ever, the hellhound growled and snapped at the two. Before it could decide to attack one of them, I willed the creek to rise up under me and rode on that little wave I made and--_

_Shlock! No more hellhound. _

But I'm not Percy Jackson. Now, if I were smart, this is what would've happened:

"_Adam! Fiona! Move!"_

_The two dived to the side as the hellhound charged right at me. I waited... and waited... and then brought up my three feet of Stygian iron and--_

_Shlock! No more hellhound._

But I'm not smart. Instead I panicked and screamed, and the three of us ran higgledy-piggledy around that little area. Although that didn't kill it straightaway, that sure confused it. It roared and barked at the air as we found shelter behind some trees.

"You... are going... so much trouble!" Fiona panted. With her back pressed against the tree, her fingers scrabbled at the little bronze dagger she had at her belt.

"Yeah, well you too since you followed us, Smart One!" snarled Adam. Cautiously, he poked his head out from behind the tree then drew it back in immediately.

"I didn't plan on following you far," Fiona mumbled. "But then the hellhound... came outta nowhere..."

Hurriedly, I shushed them. The forest had gone completely quiet all of a sudden. "Is it... gone?"

Adam and Fiona looked at me, eyes wide with hope. I detached myself from the bark and inched my way around the tree.

_CRACK!_

I dived one way and Adam and Fiona the other as the tree we were just standing behind broke in half. Standing over the remains of it was the hellhound, alive and rabid as ever. It looked left and right before deciding that the two would make a better dinner, and made its way over to them without any hurry. Adam was shaking too much to take a shot, and Fiona had probably never used that dagger on anything but weeds and training dummies. Shame on this hellhound for picking on two half-bloods that had come to camp after the war, I thought.

Then, as impulsively as an ADHD kid could, I charged.

"YAAAAAHHHH!" I roared, stabbing one of its legs. It yowled and turned on me, giving Adam and Fiona time to make their escape. Blinking, Fiona shoved Adam sideways as the hellhound's tail swished right about where their heads were a few seconds ago.

The thing didn't take to well to me stabbing it. It glared at my sword, which was dripping with its blood. It growled at me, which hey, I didn't like either.

"Oh, go to hell," I told it, thrusting my hand out. There was a familiar tug in my gut as the ground opened up below it and swallowed it whole.

As I cleaned my gross sword on the grass, Adam and Fiona appeared beside me.

"Couldn't you have just done that when we first saw it?" Adam asked in the quietest voice I've ever heard him use.

The possibility hadn't occurred to me until now. "Well, I... I think I... I don't... I pan--"

"Look out!" Fiona screamed. Pushing me sideways, she lifted up her dagger and stabbed a new approaching hellhound right in the chest. It exploded into yellow powder and blew away, leaving the Demeter girl with her arm raised and eyes closed. Suddenly, Adam sprang into action, firing three arrows simultaneously into the forest. There was a yelp, then a poof of yellow. As I got up I found myself face to face with yet another nasty beast... and another... and another. We were being cornered, and it seemed the only thing keeping them from just killing us altogether was my sword. I held it out in front of me, keeping them at bay, but it wouldn't be long before they'd decide to just eat my whole arm off.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Hard.

The ground behind the hellhounds opened up, and half a dozen skeleton warriors climbed out of the gaping pit. They moved with practice and form, and soon they'd cut through some of the hellhounds at the back. Taking this as encouragement, I moved quickly and lopped the head right off the one in front of me. Adam seemed to get what I was doing and fired with precision that could be compared to only Apollo himself. Fiona rooted several of them to the spot, making it a boat load easier for us. In about a minute we were through the hellhound crowd and running, leaving the skeletons to do whatever to the unfortunate mutts.

As we whipped right through the forest with Fiona leading us, the air beside started to take on a funny color and shape. I thought it was just a sign that I was going to pass out from exhaustion, but it was only an IM.

"Nico? Where are you?" Percy cried, his image keeping time with me as I ran. I tripped over roots and branches trying to balance my attention between him and the woods.

"The... forest..." I panted. "Percy, they say you planted some moonlace here, canIhavesomepleasewhereisit?"

Percy paused as he tried to make sense of my rushed words. His eyes widened suddenly and he goes, "Nico... Oh, no," then moves out of the screen.

I slowed down. He was in his kitchen, a kitchen I remembered from when we asked his mother for her blessing. That was what I was supposed to be remembering, I realized. The moonlace was growing in a flower box by the window.

Which was in their apartment.

Which was in New York.

Which was _not_ here in Camp Half-Blood.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Nico di Angelo y todos cosas Percy Jackson es la property de Rick Riordan. Si Nico di Angelo at lahat na bagay na Percy Jackson ay mga bagay ni Rick Riordan. Nico di Angelo and all things Percy Jackson are Rick Riordan's.**

* * *

"I hate you, Gallagher," I hissed as I lay on the ground, breathing heavily. My vision swam, making the sky look all sorts of weird colors.

"I think that you're the idiot in this situation," Adam replied from a little ways over. "You didn't remember that you saw a pot of his lovely moonlace in his apartment? Which is _clearly_ no where near here?!"

"Adam, the last time I was there, we were asking his mom whether or not we could dip him into the River Styx," I ground out.

"Guys, shut up," Fiona ordered. As an afterthought, she added, "Please."

We shut up, but Adam threw a kick at my leg. I kicked him right back.

"I believe that keeping quiet would be the best way to go in this situation."

All six of our eyes snapped open that instance to find Chiron standing over us, not looking pleased at all. "To your credit, Nico, you proved me wrong. I thought you weren't as impetuous as either of your cousins." He stopped and looked around before spreading his arms. "Yet here we are."

I closed my eyes again. "Sorry."

"Get yourselves cleaned up. I'll see you at the Big House after dinner to discuss your punishment."

* * *

I sat on the steps outside my cabin, leaning against the door. Sure, it was a chilly night, but it was warmer outside than in, and I was too lazy to light a fire for now. Besides, I had two weeks of KP, and it'll be plenty warm down there with the Harpys and their lava.

"Nico?"

Startled out of my emo moment, I looked. Zara Parks herself was standing a few feet away from me. I'd been so absorbed in my own misery that I hadn't noticed her approach.

"It's a chilly night," she said, coming to sit next to me on the steps. I scooted over for her and replied, "That's true."

She looked away then, biting her lip as if she didn't know what to say. Gods, she smelled so nice. Like flowers and soap and soil and everything nice about the world. The silence stretched on, and--

"David," I heard her whisper.

"What was that?" I asked, whipping my head to face her. I scooted over more, suddenly ashamed. Our noses were only a few inches apart.

"I just... I just named the gay baby born in that awkward silence," she muttered, blushing in the moonlight. My heart had been pounding so hard since she sat down, and I hoped she didn't notice the momentary silence when it skipped a beat.

"You do that too?" I laughed a little, trying to ease up the tension.

She smiled at me, and then the most awkward part began. "Look, Nico, I heard about your expedition into the woods and--"

"I'msorryIdidn'tgetyouanymoonlace," I blurted out suddenly. Oh, smooth move, di Angelo.

Zara cocked her head sideways. "It's okay," she said finally. "It's the thought that counts."

Then I felt her warm hand in my cold one, and I nearly gasped. She squeezed it a little and said, "I thought it was really sweet of you to go through all that trouble for me."

"I--"

She pecked me on the cheek. "Nico, thank you. That was very nice of you... But I don't really know you. From what I've heard though, I think you'd make a really cool friend."

Hoping that the moon didn't reveal too much of my mad blushing, I said simply, "Your welcome." To me, it sounded very calm and collected. Again, I hope she didn't notice the sudden silence that comes from my heart not beating, or the sudden sound of it breaking apart into a million little pieces.

Suddenly a hand reached around the corner of my cabin and pinched me on the arm.

"Ow!" I cried, letting go of Zara's hand and rubbing the spot where it hurt me.

"What's wrong?" she asked as I got off the steps and began to maneuver around the house. Out of the blue, an arm stretched out and pointed to a spot a little in front of my cabin.

"I, uh..." Honestly, I didn't know. Following the hand, I turned around to find a lovely little rose growing out of the ground, all by its lonesome. Picking it, I realized that it was completely thornless-- and ready to give to anyone I wished.

From this angle, I could see who was hiding next to around the corner. It was Fiona and Adam. At that moment, both of them gave me the thumbs up.

I sat down next to Zara again as she stared at the rose, bewildered. She chuckled as I handed it to her. "You never know what's gonna happen next with you, Nico di Angelo."

"Stick around," I said, suddenly courageous. "Then you'll know."

Getting up, she smiled. "Maybe I will," she said, walking back towards Persephone's cabin. "Happy Valentine's day, Nico!"

"Happy Valentine's day, Zara." And then she was gone. I checked around my cabin, and figured so were Adam and Fiona.

So that's the Valentine's story. I didn't get a date, but Adam and I got Fiona. And, uh, we all got KP... and a load of crap from the campers... not to mention Percy and Chiron. We sure didn't get any moonlace. Adam got a scar. I got new shoes after that.

But hey, I got a kiss from Zara Parks, too.


End file.
